MIAMI - Peter Letterese might have been able to accept harassment from members of the Church of Scientology when he left the fold, but when one of them called his attorney's wife claiming to be her husband's gay lover, that was the last straw.
Letterese, an outspoken critic of the controversial church founded by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, has filed a federal lawsuit calling the religious group a "crime syndicate," invoking the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and seeking $250 million in damages from his former brethren.
Well-known Scientologist Tom Cruise is among those named in the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Of Cruise, the suit claims Scientology head David Miscavage is "aided and abetted by the actions of Tom Cruise, his right-hand man for foreign and domestic promotion, as well as for foreign and domestic lobbying. [Cruise] has assisted the syndicate in acquiring funds and [made] his own donations of money believed to be in the multiple tens of millions of dollars."
Letterese also claims in the suit that Scientology is violating his intellectual property rights by incorporating the book Effective Sales Closing Techniques in its teachings. Letterese said he bought the rights to the book from author Leslie Dane's widow.
"This is a frivolous suit based on falsehoods," Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw told the New York Daily News. "Earlier this month, the federal Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit already rejected similar claims and affirmed that the church's use of the book in question was fair use. Mr. Letterese was penalized $266,000 by a California court for refusing to provide evidence to support many of the same allegations."
Adult industry director Paul Barresi, who has worked as a private investigator for Cruise and others in Hollywood, told the Daily News, "[Letterese] is just including a celebrity name to get attention."
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